Kendrick Lamar Shares ‘We Cry Together’ Short Film
On May 13th, 2022, Kendrick Lamar dropped his fifth studio album, ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’. It was his fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 100. In addition, it was his first album in a little over five years. With his big success in the past, many people definitely had big expectations for this one. Evidently, it was a hit.
Kendrick has already established that other than a rapper, he is also a poet. He’s made history by winning the Pulitzer-Prize for “poet-laureate of hip-hop.” In a Vanity Fair article titled ‘The Gospel According to Kendrick Lamar’, Toni Morrison quotes, “Kendrick Lamar understands and employs blues, jazz, and soul in his music, which makes it startling. His work is more than merely brilliant; it is magic.”
We Cry Together
On September 1st, 2022, Kendrick released his short film “We Cry Together,” the 8th song on the album. The short film features Kendrick arguing with Taylour Paige, who is seemingly playing his girlfriend. The argument is a very heated one. The couple goes back and forth over cheating and many other issues.
The video shows them in an apartment. The scene is dark and homey to give a real-life effect. Kendrick is dressed in a work uniform and Taylour is dressed up and on her way to work.
Hidden Meanings
Kendrick is known for having many hidden meanings in his music. In the song ‘Auntie Diaries’ from the same album, he raps about a transgender relative and what it was like growing up around and even participating in homophobia as a child, when he didn’t know any better. The song was extremely controversial when it came out. Some saying that he was wrong because he used a homophobic slur and misgenders his relative. On the other hand, some say that the meaning of the song is to be a powerful way to show his growth from his ignorance. The song also does it’s part in supporting transgender rights.
In “We Cry Together,” Kendrick starts by touching on all of the aspects of a toxic relationship; cheating, lying, distance, gaslighting, narcissism, and more. He even references a scene from the movie “Poetic Justice,” where Tupac and Janet Jackson exchange the words “f*ck you” multiple times back and forth; Taylour and Kendrick do the same. Later in the song, the argument goes from more than just the couple. It gets into issues that men and women have with the other.
Kendrick has Taylour bring up statements regarding feminism, at one part saying “See, you the reason why strong women f*cked up. Why they say it’s a man’s world, See, you the reason for Trump (I’m crying, bro), You the reason we overlooked, underpaid, under booked, under shame.”
Taylour talks a lot about how one bad man makes women think that the rest of the men are bad. However, in the end, the couple ends up making up by making love. Thus comes the title, “We Cry Together.” K-Dot shows that no matter how much men and woman can hate each other, they still need each other, and live with that burden by crying together.
Kendrick Shares The Personal
Kendrick is somebody who definitely uses his music to express himself; his love, his grief, his anger towards society and what it has become. His albums are full of hidden meanings and he tells a story with each one. He even has his wife and mother featured and referenced in the album. With putting little details together, fans pick up more and more cryptic references from his recent album and from his past ones.
